OVER the last decade, as a result of being part of the Union, Scotland has had to endure the consequences of a Conservative government. During this time three different prime ministers have served, resulting in the poor become poorer. Following the emergence of food banks, these are now recognised as normal!
More than two million people in employment are claiming Universal Credit just to survive and subsidise their poor incomes. Those who require to claim benefits because of disability have been systematically excluded, and often forgotten. Pensions are amongst the worst in Europe, including the current scandal at the DWP regarding pensioners effectively being denied their entitlement. Shameful contracts costing the country millions were awarded during the global pandemic ... the list could go on.
READ MORE: Brexit bill jumps by £10bn – but Tories end cost announcements
This leads me to ask, can we expect anything different from prime minister number four? Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have both served in government, so have been responsible for the increased use in food banks and the poverty within our pensioner population.
The country is in turmoil and disarray as a result of the Westminster shenanigans and the cost-of-living crisis, which incidentally is about to worsen due to increases in fuel costs, so more of the same is definitely not the answer. Scotland simply can’t afford any more of this systematic victimisation of the less well-off. Scotland can demonstrate what a socially just society can be, if only we had the powers to do so.
Catriona C Clark
Falkirk
THE basic fact is that our essential public utilities have been turned into privately owned monopoly businesses, where entrepreneurs, investors, shareholders – and fraudsters, even – can make millions for themselves, while we – as captive consumers – must buy their product at whatever price they choose, as recent events so clearly illustrate.
We are – in simple terms – a herd of 68 million people being systematically harvested.
Malcolm Parkin
Kinross
WHY am I not surprised at the report on anti-Semitism in the Labour party (Antisemitism was used as ‘weapon’, July 20)?
I can clearly remember that, at the time of Jeremy Corbyn’s success in becoming Labour leader, I and my family agreed that the original frontrunners would immediately start to find ways to undermine him. When Corbyn first threw his hat into the ring, they immediately laughed at the idea that this unknown nonentity should consider he had a chance to lead the party, as it was obvious they believed that position was automatically owed to one of them.
Sadly they achieved their objective, and whether I support Labour or not, I suspect that they not only ruined their own chances of filling that post in the future, but left the party in disarray and unfit to win the next election.
P Davidson
Falkirk
REGARDING the article in Wednesday's National about the lack of scrutiny regarding the UK/Australia free trade deal.
I regularly see Facebook posts from relatives in Australia urging “Make the swap, Australia”. This is a long-running campaign encouraging Australians to buy Australian-grown or Australian-produced goods. (Meanwhile, the UK Government will be happy to import Australian grown/produced goods, threatening our own).
READ MORE: Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement: Scrutiny-dodging Government sparks fury from Tory MPs
Like our “Scotland The Brand” campaign, which I am a total supporter of, we need to remind ourselves constantly that our shops/businesses are likely to be under threat of being overwhelmed by foreign products/goods. We need to buy and support Scottish made/grown goods NOW for the continued protection and survival of our businesses and industries.
Marie McIlwham
Glasgow
WHAT voluntary union slingshots untruths and uses every dirty trick in the book to stop you leaving? There has to be mega fraud in Westminster – time to investigate and lock up the crooked MPs.
Glen Peters
Paisley
IT seems, from his letter in Wednesday’s National, that Geoff Moore of Alness (presumably an American) believes in the bizarre belief of America’s National Rifle Association that the answer to gun crime is to arm all the good guys.
Now, I don’t even know why his letter was printed in The National, because it has no bearing on the situation in this country, but consider this. After the Dunblane massacre in 1996, gun ownership was severely constrained in this country. As a result, latest figures for gun deaths in the UK are 0.17 per 100,000 population. The latest figures for the USA are 12.09 deaths per 100,000 population.
According to my mathematics, that shows that you’re 70 times more likely to get shot in America than in the UK.
It appears that arming the good guys isn’t really working.
Tony Perridge
Inverness
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